Yes, Illinois should celebrate its 3-0 start. Hasn't happened in these parts for 13 years. Way too long.
But the party can't last for more than about five minutes. The real work is coming.
Next up: Revived Nebraska. Then, Penn State. Both on the road.
There were 51,498 fans (announced at Memorial Stadium on Saturday to watch Illinois subdue Central Michigan 30-9. In the next two weeks, the Illini go against a combined crowd of 192,030, give or take.
Very few of the fans will be rooting for Illinois.
But it's more than just the fans.
Nebraska and Penn State are undefeated after three weeks. The teams Illinois knocked off -- Eastern Illinois Kansas and now Central Michigan -- are winless against the FBS.
The true challenges are ahead.
Don't get me wrong, 3-0 is an accomplishment, halfway to bowl eligibility.
Veteran receiver Pat Bryant and linebacker Seth Coleman have never been 3-0 in college. Until now.
"It means a lot," Bryant said. "It's pretty special. That was my main thing coming to the University of Illinois. I didn't know much about it but I know I wanted to leave a mark.
He has.
"I'm excited to see what we do from here," Coleman said.
The last Illinois team to start 3-0, Ron Zook's 2011 squad, actually kept it going. All the way to 6-0.
Like the current team, the '11s upset a Top 25 opponent (Arizona State) in the nonconference. Its Big Ten wins were against Indiana and Northwestern, not exactly Penn State and Nebraska.
If Bret Bielema's team reaches 6-0, it will fly far up the national rankings. "Cooking with gas" is the term Zook liked to use.
The idea of 6-0 isn't in the heads of Illinois players or coaches. They promise. They are barely acknowledging 3-0.
"I know the outside world thinks we're 3-0, but we're going to try to go 1-0 every week," Bielema said.
One practice at a time. One meeting at a time. One game at a time. Sounds like a plan.
"I make three keys to victory every week and one of them is 1-0 mentality," Bielema said. "It's not just rhetoric. Our guys understand it."
Unfortunately, the rest of the world doesn't follow the rules. The players are going to hear about 3-0 in class, at the grocery store and pretty much wherever they go.
Bielema has strong leaders among the players, beyond the six designated captains. Their voices are critical this week and beyond.
Providing guidance
In his 16th year as a college head coach at three schools, Bielema seems hell-bent on making sure his team remains on task.
Routine is a big part of it. So, the pregame meal is four hours before kickoff. On Saturday that meant chow time was 7 a.m.
"It's just different," Bielema said. "I keep talking to these guys about routine. The more you build a routine, the better you're going to perform."
His guys are buying in. And proved it Friday night at Champaign's Hyatt Place.
"We moved our bed check up from 11 o'clock to 10:30 because I wanted to let them have eight hours before we woke them up," Bielema said."We have over 50 rooms, there were three rooms that weren't totally asleep at 10:30 at night. These guys just have an edge. They understand their preparation."
Part of his job is to worry. And react when he doesn't like what he sees .
Illinois struggled early against the outmanned Chippewas, leading just 10-6 until late in the first half.
"It wasn't pretty," Bielema said. "I could kind of almost feel this one coming a little since last Sunday, to put the Kansas game behind us and flip the page to Central Michigan. I knew we had our work cut out for us.
"We made it a little more difficult than it needed to be."
His team was sloppy at times, committing 10 penalties for 81 yards. The players will hear about the mistakes this week.
"These teachable moments come a lot better on the end of a victory than defeat, so I know we can make things happen."
Time to be blunt: 10 penalties in either of the next two games will be difficult to overcome. And the crowds in both Lincoln and State College are counting on causing a handful of mistakes.
Answers needed
Three Illinois running backs -- Kaden Feagin, Josh McCray and Ca'Lil Valentine, gained 132 yards on 23 carries. That's a solid 5.8 yard per carry average. But there were some negative plays.
"There's no doubt in my mind we have to be more efficient on early-down runs," Bielema said. "Have to play ahead of the sticks. We've put ourselves in too many third and longs."
Feagin, expected to be the star of the show going into the season, gained 25 yards on 10 carries.